Great Bear Rainforest

The Great Bear Rainforest is a land of fjords, islands and great river estuaries. It’s world’s largest intact temperate rainforest. Bears and wolf packs thrive as they have for millennia. Explore the wildlife, the waterfall-filled wonder, and the human history of one of earth’s most spectacular coastlines – “the last stand of the great North American rainforest,” according to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Note: You’ll notice many of our 2018 trips are sold out. Contact us to be added to our interest list for additional sailings, releasing soon.

Explore the Great Bear Rainforest

Highlights

View grizzly bears, spirit bears, and black bears with some of BC’s most experienced guides.

Sail the fjords, where 4,000-foot cliffs rise above you.

Walk in rainforest and wildflower meadows with naturalist.

Visit local villages and, welcomed by residents, learn about coastal culture, from First Nations’ earliest culture to the present.

Explore the region’s other wildlife, including whales, wolves, bald eagles, and other marine mammals and birds.

Beach-comb and land on remote islands.

Experience the entirety of this special region, by taking the time to get to know its rhythms and intricacies, through cruising by yacht and anchoring in special places each night.

Nature and Landscape

The Great Bear Rainforest is a land of fjords, rainforests, islands and great river estuaries. There are no roads. Instead, everyone travels by water.

The many protected, unlogged and ancient rainforests, and the quiet, nutrient-rich ocean, support wildlife and ecosystems as they would have been thousands of years ago across the continent – where grizzly bears and wolf packs roam free and live from what they naturally have always lived from, including abundant salmon runs.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. calls it “the last stand of the great North American rainforest”.

Wildlife Highlights

Grizzly bear

Spirit bear (rare) and black furred black bear

Baleen whales (humpback, fin)

Killer whale / orca

Dall’s porpoise

Grey wolf (rare)

Bald eagle

Pacific salmon (in autumn)

Cultural History

Explore the worlds of several northwest First Nations: the Heiltsuk, Kitasoo Xai’xais, Haisla, Gitga’at and Henaaksiala. Everywhere is evidence of their civilization.

Fish traps, bark-stripped trees and longhouse remains give testimony to a way of life tuned to the rhythm of nature.

You’ll visit modern villages, talk with local residents, and see the ancient art traditions still in place today.

Comfortable Ship, Expert Guides

Get ready for days of adventure and wildlife, supported by a very comfortable expedition ship, a gourmet chef and welcoming guides. Maple Leaf Adventures is a pioneer of tourism in the Great Bear Rainforest, having designed tours here starting in 1991 and advocated for its protection.

3 Seasons in the Great Bear Rainforest

Three Seasons in the Great Bear Rainforest

Our experienced crew and naturalist will take you to areas where you’ll be able to witness peak wildlife events:

Summer highlights bears on estuaries, mountain goats, porpoises, dense intertidal life. Humpback whales arrive in spring to feast until fall. West coast, sandy beaches beckon, some of them home to elusive wolves.

Autumn highlights witness the return of the salmon to spawn, which draws grizzly, spirit and black bears to the estuaries again, along with whales, sea lions, seals, eagles and elusive wolves.

See each trip’s sample itineraries for specific wildlife that it is customary to see in each season. Not all species are visible in all seasons. Also wildlife have their own agendas and while we plan our trips in the peak season and areas for wildlife viewing, with very experienced guides, we do not guarantee sightings.

What Makes It Unique?

A vast area of rainforest and islands that has not submitted to human industrial human culture.

Trip Itineraries

Returning salmon have filled the estuaries and wildlife is everywhere! Sail into fjordand and witness the great feast as grizzly bears, black bears, bald eagles feed on the bounty of salmon. Possibly even see the rare and unique spirit bear....

Bright green fjords, estuaries filled with wildflowers, where grizzly bears forage in spring. Travel with humpbacks through channels and island groups, watching for black bears along shorelines. Migrating birds, local villages, and much more....

From mid Vancouver Island venture into the Discovery Islands and north into the Broughton Archipelago. Watch for whales and explore island beaches. Sail through Queen Charlotte Sound and into the Great Bear Rainforest. Take shore trips into estuaries....

Remote reaches of coastal fjords are full with salmon throughout the fall. Wildlife gather to feast on the fish allowing you to watch grizzly bears, bald eagles and black bears. On some occasions witness the rare sprit bear as it emerges from the forest....

In summertime, explore the wilder parts of the Great Bear, and its abundance of whales. Highlights: remote islands, white sand beaches, whale research station, humpback whales, orcas, seabirds and more....

Explore the fjords and islands at the start of the salmon run and grizzly bear viewing for the fall season. Also a great time for whales and seabirds. This is our award-winning journey into the nature, wildlife and culture of the Great Bear Rainforest....

Explore the fjords and islands in peak season for bear viewing. This is our award-winning journey into the nature, wildlife and culture of the Great Bear Rainforest. We travel in the traditional territory of the Haisla, Henaaksiala, Gitga'at and sometimes...